[ExI] The Great Gatsby Curve

John Clark johnkclark at gmail.com
Sat Mar 2 18:29:18 UTC 2019


On Sat, Mar 2, 2019 at 11:19 AM <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:

> *Consider the example you gave, the 4.5 billion dollar boat.  It really
> isn’t that.  It is really a 100 million dollar boat with 4.4 billion
> dollars worth of gold and silver aboard. *
>

Nothing as vulgar as silver it's platinum, but if you don't like that one
pick another of the 15 super ridiculous yachts on the list, like the 13,136
ton one with a concert hall big enough for a 50-piece orchestra, or the 1.5
billion dollar Eclipse that for some mysterious reason needs 2 helicopter
pads. By the way, the most expensive cruise ship ever built is the "Allure
Of The Sea" and it also cost 1.5 billion dollars but unlike the Eclipse it
can give pleasure to 6300 people at a time not just one ultra crazy rich
man.


> * > The money goes back into circulation, one way or the other. *
>

So what? I say again money is just a bookkeeping device that tells me what
percentage of a societies resources I can control; if I have enough control
to be able to build a 1000 foot tall stainless steel statue of myself
kicking a puppy and decide to do so others may think society's finite
resources could be better directed in other directions. They may conclude
that I would make far better decisions if a bullet were placed in my
brain.

*> In general, the big rich-guy projects are the gift that keeps on
> giving.  Consider this guy Hearst.  Made his fortune writing fake news.
> Built a castle down on the California coast, filled it with every kind of
> luxury item you can think of, collected art from all over the world,
> antiquities, did this and that.  Big waste, ja?  *
>

Bad example, unlike people like Rockefeller or Carnegie or even  JP Morgan
the world would have been a better place if William Randolph Hearst had
never been born; there probably would not have been a Spanish American War
for one thing.


> > *No, not at all.  That castle is still there, still being meticulously
> maintained.  It is a major tourist attraction today. *
>

And today the Great Pyramid gives joy to tourists (probably a great deal
more joy than it gave to the people that actually had to construct the
idiotic thing that spectacularly failed to do what it was designed to do)
so maybe in 4500 years somebody will find the remains of one of those
superyachts and the same thing will happen. But it wouldn't be wise to base
your economy on that slim reed.


> *> You can have a 4.5 billion dollar boat, but really only one of them.
> You can’t sail on two at the same time.  *
>

That doesn't matter you can still build 2 of them. These things were not
built to be used, most super ultra crazy rich people spend very little time
on their ridiculous yachts, they built them to impress other ultra crazy
rich people. My yacht is bigger than your yacht nana-nana-nah-nah!


> *> You mighta heard of the Gates Foundation *
>

If all the super ultra crazy rich were like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett
there would be no problem but most end up giving their fortune to their
worthless children who do the same to their children and presto the USA has
a de facto inherited aristocracy.

Top 10 Wealthiest Families in the World
<https://www.investopedia.com/articles/insights/052416/top-10-wealthiest-families-world.asp>

And I'd still like to know if you really think the not just growth but
acceleration of the wealth gap can continue forever.

 John K Clark
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